580. This is the number of times you have to multiply the lowest paid McDonald’s employee salary in order to arrive at the CEO’s salary. Twenty years ago, that number was 230.

Reading this article from a few weeks ago in Bloomberg was distressing to say the least and really highlights the day-to-day impacts of the pay disparity between the highest and lowest earners in the fast food industry and beyond.

When forming Seventh Generation 25 years ago, we made a decision that the highest paid employee would never be paid more than 17 times the lowest paid employee. How a company treats it’s employees is the ultimate test of a responsible company. 580 is unacceptable. As more and more responsible businesses emerge, the leading issue that needs to be addressed is employee treatment –  after all, the more successful and fulfilled the employees are, the more successful the company as a whole.

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